Are you looking for light, medium or hot loads? Jacketed or hard-cast?

Pretty open-ended question, I think.

Lennyjoe

April 23, 2007, 02:07 PM

Had the ammo sitting in the truck overnight at a shoot in Tucson here in Feb. It got down to 38 that night and I was up early shooting. Definitely felt a bit different.

Bandit01

April 23, 2007, 08:50 PM

800X is the cats meow for 10MM high performance loads. YOu can work up pretty good with this powder.

The problem with 800X is that since it's so flaky, how do you measure it. I don't want to take the risk of a double charge or a squib load.

ReloaderFred

April 23, 2007, 09:07 PM

I've used 800X in heavy bullet loads in the 10mm, and it does perform. It's accurate and fast, but a royal pain to meter. It's like putting cornflakes through a powder measure. I ended up weighing each charge, which is way too slow for pistol ammunition.

At the SHOT Show in 2005, I talked to the Hodgdon reps in their booth and asked if there was any chance of them developing a powder with the same burning rate that would meter well. They said they had been talking about it, but wouldn't make any promises.

I liked AA#7 and WSF in 40S&W with the Lasercast 200 gr., both powders work in 10 mm. No problems with metering with WSF or AA powders other than they may be so fine they leak a little out of your measure! Some of those AA loads look really interesting!

For high performance loading of 10mm, AA#9 is as good as it gets unless you want to spend the extra money for Vihta Vouri 3N38 or N105, but then, data will not be nearly as available as what exists for #7 & #9. Good and realistic data is available for Ramshot Silhouette at their website. Max. performance will take you close to what #7 will provide, and the truth is that 90% of 10mm shooters are NOT going to need it. For Delta Elites, or DW 10mm pistols, any of these three will get you what is realistic.

#7 has been proven to be one of the best available powders for 10mm, and it has been as long as data has been around for the cartidge. #9 will get you performance equal to the original Norma loads. If you want to see some of the negative effects of using the hot 800-X loads, go to this link: http://www.czshooters.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1614 Take a look at the primer in the pic. This is an example of what you don't want to see! These same loads were also circulated at CZ Forum and probably originated with guys hotrodding Glock 10mm pistols on the various Glock forums, but in the case of use in Witness pistols and these two websites, the data was provided by the guy who makes Double-Tap ammo.

If someone has a need for higher performance in 10mm that what #9 will deliver, you probably want to watch the guy (from a safe distance) who's providing the data while he shoots these loads rather than waste your time and possibly endangering yourself, or your pistol. With a Glock 20, that does have a stronger locking system than Witness pistols, but weighs what, 25 ounces? I can guarantee you the level of accuracy they get will be mediocre at best. The question of adequate chamber support also exists with Glock 10mms.

If you have to trickle powder for a handgun load, that should be enough right there to tell you it's the wrong choice, most especially for max. loads. Many are throwing these charges with a powder measure and NOT trickling. AA#7 is the densest handgun propellant available to handloaders at 985 grams per liter .985/cc. Coupled with its small physical size, metering is about as good as you can expect from any handgun powder. #9 is nearly as dense (935 grams per liter) and a bit finer grained. The only good reason for not using one or the other may be a powder measure that doesn't seal well enough to prevent leakage. Then, there are far better choices than 800-X. Talk to anyone that shoots .45 ACP regularly. Look at the data and performance level of the majority of loads cirulating around the forums. It is clear that a lot of them are not interested in +P level loads. Recoil can be substantial. Power factors will be at 210 or above when the comfort level for most shooters runs 160-165, yeah that's why you see IDPA and USPSA shooters using the 165 power factor minimum. A person that can handle recoil with loads above 200 Power factor in an autoloading pistol, and shoot them accurately, has put in a lot of time in learning to master recoil. The 180 grain 10mm loads with the charges of 800-X that you won't find in any published manual, yet circulate, take you to yet another realm of recoil in pistols the same size as .45 pistols that many shooters can not master with .45 ACP +P loads. That's just my oppinion!;)

Lennyjoe

April 24, 2007, 02:52 AM

The problem with 800X is that since it's so flaky, how do you measure it. I don't want to take the risk of a double charge or a squib load.
That is a problem but the Lee Autodisc seems to meter it pretty well. But, I prefer to weigh 800X by hand because I tend to load my 200gr stump busters over the published load. I do not load 800X for range ammo. For that, I use either PowerPistol or Blue Dot.

Lennyjoe

April 24, 2007, 02:53 AM

BTW, anyone know what happened to the sticky on the handloading forum for 10MM loads? I noticed its gone.

Vitamin G

April 24, 2007, 05:36 PM

I'm a big fan of blue dot with either 135gr or 180gr loads. I never bothered working up any mid-range bullets. I like heavy and fast, or light and super fast.

The fireball is MOST pleasing with blue-dot. I could never recommend it for night plinking.

Lennyjoe

April 25, 2007, 04:18 AM

I could never recommend it for night plinking.

Me either. I get quite a flash when I shoot 10MM indoors with Blue Dot reloads. Scares the haties out of the shooters to the left/right of me too.:evil:

sargenv

April 25, 2007, 02:05 PM

About Hodgdon and heavy bullet 10 mm loads. I would take a serious look at one of their newer powders called "Longshot". I've used it to load heavy 38 super ammo for my open race gun and could push another whole grain of powder with my "heavy" bullet 135's above what I needed to make IPSC major with. I would think that it can be loaded for 10 mm rather well with not a lot of pressure issues. It is rated somewhere in the range of Blue Dot/HS7.

I've also had some limited experience loading H110 with heavy bullets in the 10 mm. Since you are shooting an auto-pistol, you may want to shy away from the ultra slow magnum handgun powders. I did my experimentation with an N frame Model 610 with a 6.5" barrel.

Vince

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